Cover of Night
by Kirenza
Summary: Outside the evening was nothing but cold—cold breezes, cold starlight. But from within his room came the promise of warmth and comfort, worries melting away like sun-kissed snow. Fluri oneshot.


Sneaking onto the castle grounds was always easiest at night, Yuri found, with the darkness providing plenty of shadows to roam through as he made his way to Flynn's room. The moon rose high in the sky and had just passed full—but still it shone bright enough for Yuri to find his way. Light from the stars helped as well, hundreds, thousands of stars, with Brave Vesperia gleaming nearly as bright as the moon with its hues of purple and pinks. The cold glow mixed with the cool air and Yuri could feel it starting to seep through his clothes, his skin, nearly down to the bone. In no time at all he reached the wing housing Flynn's room and scaled the wall. Though the bricks had been kissed by the chill breeze, it wasn't anything Yuri couldn't handle, and he ascended to the window ledge jutting out yards above. He hefted himself up and attempted to push the window open only to find it shut _and_ locked—rare for Flynn. Too many shadows lay draped within his room to tell if the knight was in, so Yuri rapped on the pane. He'd kick himself if he went all this way for nothing. Finally he caught sight of movement after a few more knocks. Slow, dredging movement, a form sliding out of bed and trudging to the window. Flynn gazed out in confusion and after a moment realized who had scaled up to his room. It took him a few tries to undo the latch, still wrapped up in sleep, and soon enough the window swung inward to let Yuri inside and back onto solid ground.

"Um," Flynn began, "hi. What're you doing here?"

"Thought I'd drop by." Yuri took a seat on the mattress edge and slid off his boots. "I could've gone down to my room, but yours was closer. So here I am."

"Climbing a wall is easier than walking to the Comet?"

Yuri shrugged. "It's a long ways from here."

The mattress dipped under Flynn's weight as he sat beside Yuri. With a glance towards Flynn he laughed quietly—he was so out of sorts, his hair even messier than usual, his eyelids drooping as he focused on the rug at his feet.

"Sorry to wake you," Yuri continued.

Flynn shook his head. "No big deal." He paused. "I'm guessing you plan to stay the night."

"Nah, just thought I'd come up and mess with you."

"Thanks."

Yuri caught the quiet chuckle. With another glance Flynn's way he noticed his stomach had been swathed in bandages, pure white and nearly blending in with his skin, pale and washed out from the light of the moon. No wonder he hadn't noticed them earlier.

"What the hell happened?" Yuri spoke.

The question threw Flynn off guard, and he gazed sleepily towards Yuri until he realized what he'd meant. His arm curled around his stomach. "Just a scratch."

"A scratch. Uh-huh."

"It's nothing big, really. I let my guard down while we were on a mission and a monster got me. That's all."

"How's it feel now?"

Flynn's face contorted a little. "Still hurts. But it's not as bad now. I can still move around, obviously."

"Get back in bed, then."

He didn't protest, and slowly made his way back under the covers, grimacing as he tried to hold back grunts of pain. Yuri stepped over to the window again to close it up and keep the cold air out. Flynn watched his movements with half-lidded eyes, averting his gaze when Yuri began to shed his clothes. He left them in a pile by his boots and carefully climbed over Flynn to settle beneath the blankets with him, realizing then how cold he'd actually been from his evening walk, and he hummed quietly as he settled in the newfound warmth. Flynn shifted and slid a hand along Yuri's arm, jerking away for a moment.

"You're cold."

"Well, yeah. I was just outside."

Flynn nudged him closer but couldn't move much himself, what with his wound limiting mobility. As Flynn nestled against him Yuri rolled his eyes. But he let Flynn do as he pleased, let him seek out what comfort he could, realizing he'd probably had to suffer through most of the day in silence. He had to admit, though, the heat was nice, and it had been a while since they'd seen each other, too wrapped up in their separate lives to spare the time for a visit.

"Yuri?"

"Hmm?"

"Could you..." He hesitated, pulling his head back a little to meet his eyes. "Could you sing something?"

It was Yuri's turn to hesitate now. Rarely did he sing around others, even Flynn, but Yuri knew from past experiences how much he enjoyed it, remembered the sparkle it summoned in Flynn's eyes, and he quickly found it hard to resist—especially given his condition. Yuri laughed quietly and shifted to a more comfortable position.

"Fine. Just one song."

Words and melodies flowed without much thought; he knew exactly what song Flynn was wanting, a song they'd heard in childhood that had managed to stick with them through all the years, somehow, a song slow and soft and rolling like the waves of a calm sea. His eyes closed and his mind painted scenes across the darkness as the words escaped his lips. The warmth drew near again as Flynn held him close and pressed his face to Yuri's chest, soft hair tickling his skin and making his lips pull up into a slight smile. Flynn was such a hopeless romantic, enough so that it drove Yuri up the wall sometimes, but Yuri brushed it off for now with a roll of the eyes and kept the tune going.

Towards the end he could feel Flynn's grip begin to loosen. With the last verse finished silence overcame them, and soon he caught the sound of quiet, steady breathing, slumber now blanketed over Flynn. Yuri let him stay in place and shifted his head until it lay on the crown of Flynn's hair. He stared off into the darkness until he began to feel sleep tugging his eyes closed as well, into dreams spun with the imagery of their song and the promise of a brighter tomorrow.


End file.
